Subtitle: Group Travel Platform Role: Founding Designer Timeline: 2019 → 2022 URL: https://hunterandbard.com/portfolio/kiss-and-tell
This foundational engagement, led by Daina Reed prior to Hunter & Bard, transformed a manual concierge service into a fully autonomous self-service platform. By architecting a multi-role user experience and an intelligent, segmented feed system, the project eliminated operational bottlenecks and established the scalable infrastructure that secured a $100K Google for Startups award.
Kiss & Tell faced a critical scalability ceiling: the platform functioned as a CEO-dependent concierge service where every booking required manual intervention. Group communication was fragmented, and the lack of automated routing meant the leadership team was trapped in day-to-day operations. The strategic mission was to build a "zero-intervention" architecture, a system intuitive enough to transition users from guided manual support to a completely self-service booking journey.
An adaptive feed system based on sub-list segmentation to solve \"notification chaos.\" This ensured that in a group travel event with dozens of participants, guests only received updates relevant to their specific role or sub-group.
Impact: Eliminated the noise of global notifications, significantly increasing user engagement and reducing \"notification fatigue\" for high-occupancy events.
The architecture replaced manual CEO oversight with a robust visual guidance system. This included contextual modals and real-time status indicators that anticipated user friction points during the complex group booking process.
Impact: Successfully removed the \"concierge bottleneck,\" allowing the platform to scale bookings without a proportional increase in headcount.
To manage complex guest lists and logistics, the design utilized \"In-Context Editing\" through drawer patterns and chip-based filtering. This allowed hosts to perform deep administrative tasks without losing their place in the primary workflow.
Impact: Increased administrative efficiency for group hosts, enabling them to manage multi-tiered travel itineraries with high accuracy and minimal navigation.
Hunter & Bard is a San Francisco-based B2B strategy consultancy founded in 2011 by Shira Abel. We help deep-tech and enterprise SaaS companies fix their positioning, sharpen their messaging, and close $100K+ deals.
We work with B2B leaders who are tired of being overlooked, underestimated, or mistaken for their competitors. Our specialty is turning complex, technical products into clear, compelling stories that win enterprise deals.
We believe that perception drives revenue. If your buyers can't tell you apart from the next vendor in 30 seconds, you have a positioning problem — not a marketing problem. We fix that.
Perception = (Story × Visibility) ÷ Noise
This framework drives everything we do. Your story has to be sharp. Your visibility has to be strategic. And you have to cut through the noise — not add to it.
Shira Abel — Founder & CEO. Kellogg MBA. 20+ years in B2B marketing. Former CMO. Keynote speaker. Published in Forbes, HuffPost, and Wired. Specialist in enterprise positioning and perception strategy.
Daina Reed — Founding Designer & Partner. 15+ years in product and brand design. Former Senior Product Designer at Dun & Bradstreet. Specialist in enterprise UX, visual identity, and design systems.